Brian Laver - Mom was best

The guys were still going on peeping raids, but Bill was never interested. He wished he could tell the guys why he didn't go with them anymore, but Sue had asked him to keep it a secret.

Things had changed around Persy since he'd been back. There were a lot more dances with the girls' schools, and the chaperones didn't seem to be too observant. Mr. Borden was suddenly a changed man. Some of the guys had managed to get the girls to come to the dorm and fuck them. Bill had gotten laid a few times during dances, and once he got a blow-job almost as good as the once his mother gave him.

Bill was happy at school and he rarely got into trouble. Summer vacation was coming, but he wasn't even overly anxious. He and Sue were going to Europe and that was something to look forward to, but Bill was content at school too.

Every spring the senior class would sneak out of the dorm and go up to an old abandoned house nearby to look for the ghost which supposedly haunted it. It was a tradition at Persy, and Mr. Borden never tried to catch the guys who went.

When the moon was full for the first time in May, the time had arrived. Everyone went to bed as usual, but when things had quieted down, the guys began sneaking out in small groups. Bill went with Larry and Sam. They went to the field beyond the football stadium where all tine guys were congregating. There must have been forty guys out there.

The old house was about a mile away and the guys were anxious to get going. The landscape was brightly lit by the moon as they began heading up the dirt road that would lead them there. The boys kept shushing those who were making too much noise. After all, they didn't want to scare the ghost away.

Although the haunted house trip was mainly a lark, being out there late at night with the wind whistling through the many dead trees that hovered above that old din road was pretty scary. All the guys were glad that they weren't alone. Every now and then, one of them would crack a joke out of sheer nervousness.

By the time the old house was in sight, the guys were all wishing that they didn't have to uphold that particular tradition, but none of them were willing to let their classmates know how they felt. They all began slowing down so they wouldn't be at the front line if the ghost decided to attack. They had all beard stories about that spook from the seniors of previous years when they were underclassmen. All the stories verified the reality of the ghost had been seen by several of the kids and the way they described him made them eager to become seniors and get their turn. But now that they were out there they wished they could still wait back in the dorm for the latest report from someone else.

As the old house loomed in front of them, they came to a stop and stood there staring. It seemed that everything about the old place was dead. The trees in the unkept lawn were mere branchy skeletons. All the windows were dark and empty with broken shutters hanging at angles. The sound of one of those shutters swinging on a rusty hinge drifted to the guys and made them shiver.

Finally, a few boys began to move forward again and the rest were compelled to follow. The haunted house seemed to get larger as they approached. It was a big old mansion, a really imposing sight. The story that had been handed down from one class to the other told of an old miser who had lived there. When he thought his wife was spending him into the poorhouse, he killed her and threw her into the well. He disappeared after that, but stories began to spread about people seeing the old man floating a few inches over the ground, circling the well and drifting through the doors and windows.

All the guys were keeping their eyes peeled for the ghost as they neared the front porch. They knew that the couldn't go back to the dorm until they had seen enough to make a good story for the younger boys. They would just as soon see that ghost right away so they could high-tail it back to the safety of the school. They climbed the broken steps to the porch and peeked in the windows. A cool, dampness met their faces, but that was all. They couldn't see a thing in the inky blackness.

None of the guys said anything and it was as quiet as a tomb. So when one of the hinges on a shutter creaked again, they all jumped. Bill felt his heart skip a beat and he had to fight to keep from running. He looked at Larry and Sam, they were as white as ghosts themselves.

Some of the boys were crawling through windows and two were tugging on the front door. Bill followed the crowd into the dark of the house. Some of the guys had flashlights, but not many of them. Most had matches and some didn't have any light at all Larry had a flashlight so Bill and Sam clung to him.

They gazed into the circle of light that played over the walls and floor as Larry swung the light around. When they saw two beady eyes shining at them they clutched at each other in fright, but the owner of those eyes turned its hairy little body and scurried away. Rats were the least of their worries. They found a large stairway and decided to climb it. They could hear the other guys creeping around, and they were brave enough to want to have an area to explore without competition.

The old boards of the stain cried out under their feet, adding to the scary atmosphere of the old place. They looked around in the rooms upstairs, but didn't find anything much different than the first floor – old, stained wallpaper, dried and split floorboards, and a few pieces of broken furniture.

"I wish we could find a trace of that ghost," Bill whispered.

"Yeah," Larry said without much conviction in his voice.

"The only trace I've ever heard of anyone finding is the ghost himself suddenly rushing out at you," Sam said.

His words cooled the other two boys' eagerness. They crept down a long hallway, but something seemed different suddenly. Larry shined the light around at his friends. Sam was there, but Bill wasn't. Larry began shining the thin beam of light all around the hallway, but it was clear that Larry and Sam were alone.

"Do you know where Bill went?" Larry whispered anxisusly to Sam.

"No. He was right here a second ago."

Sam sounded really worried and that feeling was contagious. They re-traced their steps, and whispered out Bill's name, but there was no sign of him. The footsteps came toward them. Larry swung the light in that direction, but it only revealed Chuck and Brad shielding their eyes from the glare of the flashlight.

"Have you guys seen Bill?" Sam asked in a harsh whisper.

"He was right beside us one minute, then he disappeared," Larry added.

Chuck and Brad said they hadn't seen him, and their voices grew more nervous as they questioned Larry and Sam about the disappearance. The four guys teamed up and began searching. They didn't find Bill, but they met a few more of the guys and told them what had happened. News of the disappearance spread and caused a near panic. The guys were scared enough now to split without seeing the ghost, but they couldn't leave Bill there alone.

Suddenly, the dead quiet of the house was split by a horrible wail. The guys grabbed at each other and held on unashamedly. A few whimpers were heard among the guys. The sound had been so loud and fearsome that they would have run, Bill or no Bill, but now they were too scared to move.

Then the terrible sound was repeated. The guys held each other tighter, and terrified moans broke out everywhere. They were all actually trembling in their jeans and a few crotches were wet with the proof of their fright.

Again the sound split the darkness. It seemed to be coming faster now. In another few seconds, they heard it again. Larry was feeling light-headed and he was afraid he might hint. He was shining the light around, and everyone could see how nervous he was by the way the beam shook as he searched the hallway for the source of that horrible wailing.